


A Human In Monster's Clothing

by january_rain



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Ghost Lee Hoseok, Ghosts, Human Lee Jooheon, M/M, Magic, Monster Hunters, Siren Yoo Kihyun, Sirens, Sorcerer Son Hyunwoo, Sorcerers, Vampire Chae Hyungwon, Vampires, Were-Creatures, Werecat Im Changkyun, Werewolf Lee Minhyuk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:01:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27864238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/january_rain/pseuds/january_rain
Summary: Monster hunter Jooheon's life changes after meeting vampire Hyungwon and discovering that not everything—or everyone—is as black and white as he thought.Now, they work together to take down therealmonsters that prowl in the night.
Relationships: Chae Hyungwon/Lee Jooheon
Comments: 8
Kudos: 17





	A Human In Monster's Clothing

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure how many chapters there will be but I do have the storyline mostly plotted! It just happens to all be in my head at the moment other than this first chapter ^^;

On rare occasions, Hyungwon wishes he had become some other type of supernatural being. 

It's not that being undead doesn't have its perks, because it certainly does—

Enhanced senses, unnatural speed, getting to sleep however long he wants during the day and not needing to wake up early anymore since the sunlight would only hurt him ( _"You get_ one _sunburn and use it as an excuse forever to stay out of the sun, you scaredy bat!" "That is irrelevant, Changkyun."_ ). 

Not to mention not even needing to cook when he doesn't feel like it, he can simply eat raw meat and it'll sate him.

—it's just, sometimes the cons outweigh the pros. 

"Hold still."

Like now, for instance. 

Apparently vampire tears were a key ingredient to whatever potion Shownu was brewing, and being the only vampire nearby at the moment, obviously Hyungwon was the lucky lab bat. 

He made a face at the concoction Shownu was waving under his nose, the smell ten times worse than Wonho's socks after he finished a three hour workout.

"Is this really necessary?" He complains with a whine.

Shownu gives an affirmative sound. "As the only vampire available at this hour, in this section of the city, yes."

"Is this concoction always so... strong?" Hyungwon questions next, making a face as Shownu almost shoves it up his nose. The proximity nearly causes him to gag, but nothing more. 

"Gotta love those heightened vampire senses, huh, hyung?" Changkyun grins from where he's perched on the top of the couch cushions next to Wonho, who imitates the way Shownu gestures for the vampire to take a deeper breath in what Hyungwon supposes is meant to be taken in a helpful manner. 

At the moment, however, it just adds to his annoyance of the situation. 

Hyungwon shoots Changkyun a dirty look when Shownu isn't paying attention, but the brat just sticks his tongue out in response. Hyungwon resists the urge to roll his eyes. Werecats could be such a pain; _this_ one in particular. 

Still, he's so glad that Changkyun is with them now.

He grimaces as he recalls the thick scent of blood hanging heavy in the air, hearing a faint heartbeat start to fade. Near lifeless eyes slowly sliding closed, _hand outstretched but too far to reach_ —

—his eyes squeeze shut at the memory.

It's easy enough to play off the sudden tears that slip from them as being due to the horrid smell coming from the vial in Shownu's hand.

The warlock collects one with a short thanks and wipes the rest from Hyungwon's face as a courtesy before he exits the room to get rid of the foul smelling concoction.

Left to themselves in Hyungwon's spacious but cozy living room, Hyungwon makes his way to the wine cooler beside the bookshelf that takes up an entire wall by itself. The vampire is content to drown out the memories he'd rather repress with one of the _special_ bottles of wine he keeps in every room ‘for emergencies’. Or just, you know, whenever he’s thirsty. 

He’s pouring himself a glass when Wonho speaks up.

"It's almost the full moon, any special plans?"

“The usual.”

“Oh, so you’re just going to be boring again.”

Hyungwon narrows his eyes at Changkyun. “There’s nothing boring about our traditions.” Which, just maybe, might be a stretch of the truth.

“Come on, hyung,” Changkyun pleads. “It’s going to be a full moon _on_ All Hallow’s Eve! It’s a special occasion, we’ve got to do something fun next week. When’s the last time you even spent a full moon out of this stupid old mansion anyway?”

_This stupid old mansion?_ , Hyungwon thinks to himself, _where I so graciously allow you all to live and freeload off me? Where I shelter you from those who wish to hurt our kind? Is that the stupid old mansion you mean?_ He’s not entirely sure how he puts up with them sometimes. 

Ah, yes, that’s right... Love and affection. 

...

Disgusting.

"Don't you have some little human to go cuddle up to?" Hyungwon deflects. It's far easier to change the course of the conversation than it is to think about an answer to Changkyun’s question. 

"His name," Changkyun says, moves catlike even in human form as he rolls from the top of the couch and springs to his feet. "Is Jooheon. And I'll have you know he's an _excellent_ cuddler."

There's a pause as the werecat stretches his arms languidly above his head. He cocks his head to the side and looks Hyungwon straight in the eye mischievously. 

Hyungwon, already bracing himself for some kind of quip, stares back nonplussed. 

"You could learn a thing or two, actually."

That last parting remark is said as he flees the room before Hyungwon can catch him, his laughter echoing down the halls.

Shownu returns minutes later and is confronted with a pouting vampire whose head is being gently patted by their resident ghost. 

"He used to say _I_ was the best cuddler," Hyungwon laments, dramatically splayed across the couch with an arm hanging off the side. The theatrics come naturally to him; he’d been highly praised in his previous ‘life’ for his skills.

"Don't worry, you're still the best in my book," Wonho assures him with a smile, brushing some of Hyungwon's hair from his face. 

Hyungwon makes a halfhearted noise of enthusiasm that has Wonho playfully poking him in the side before he sits back up with a sigh.

Shownu has taken the liberty of grabbing his own drink from the cooler, of the _non-special_ variety, and is sipping it while leaning against the bookshelves. Noticing the lack of a certain werecat, he makes the observation, “He’s gone to see that human again?”

Hyungwon mumbles from where his face is buried in his hands, “Unfortunately so.” 

It’s the seventh time this month. Hyungwon had thought that the werecat would have grown bored of his little human by now, but Changkyun was nothing if not full of surprises.

“Hey, humans aren’t all that bad,” Wonho chimes in. His friend’s tone is gentle, but Hyungwon can feel regret rising inside himself at the careless remark nonetheless.

“That’s not–, I didn’t mean to–”

“I know what you meant.” The sad smile Wonho offers them makes Hyungwon’s cold heart drop. “You’re just worried about him. I understand. He would too, if you would just tell him why.” 

There _is_ a reason Hyungwon hasn’t been completely honest with their youngest friend about his strict rules and certain mannerisms, the first and foremost being for his safety. Another, admittedly big contributing factor, is his immense guilt. If only he’d have been more aware, more present-but he can’t change the past. That’s painfully clear from the amount of times he’s tried.

As for the future, well.

He’s dead set on making sure not to repeat his mistakes.

Draining his glass in one go, Hyungwon sets it on the table in front of him with a decisive _clink_. Both Shownu and Wonho are watching him closely, but he shrugs off the stares and silently retrieves his coat.

“You’re leaving at this hour?” Shownu asks, surprised.

“Where are you going?” Wonho adds, curious.

“To keep Changkyun out of trouble.” Hyungwon pauses by the door, taking a moment to glance back, eyes now a dark maroon. “And to make sure that little human isn’t up to anything.”

———————

Soft music can be heard throughout the small restaurant as soon as Jooheon steps into _Fantasia_. The pleasant sound of a voice singing along with the record playing cuts off as the bell above the door jingles.

He's not surprised; Kihyun never sings around anyone else, though Jooheon has often tried to catch the chef unaware. It's a pity, because from the very small snippets he's managed to hear, he can tell Kihyun has a beautiful voice. It has a certain pull to it that makes Jooheon lean in, though in vain, to hear more.

As far as he knows, the only living creature who gets the privilege of hearing Kihyun’s singing voice is MinMin, the stray dog who Kihyun lets hang out inside the place whenever there is a need for scraps to be eaten. 

Jooheon swears that the dog is practically Kihyun's at this point, but Kihyun disagrees. He always rants about how MinMin makes the worst companion, never cleaning after himself or how he's always _'talking back_ '–all the while passing the dog treats under the table as if Jooheon can't see.

He's not one to judge, however. 

Recently a stray tabby cat has been frequenting his fire escape ever since he took it to a vet for a check up a few weeks back. The poor thing had had an injured front paw and looked so pathetic sitting there with it raised in the air. Jooheon couldn't just walk past the alley he'd spotted it in without doing anything, especially when it looked up at him with its big round eyes and let out the weakest, most pathetic meow he'd ever heard- his job is literally to protect after all–people and animals alike. 

"Rough day?" Kihyun calls out from deeper into the kitchen, just out of sight. 

"Mhmm," Jooheon hums in reply, sighing as he takes a seat at the empty bar. His leg is still sore from pulling it the day before by chasing down a group of young men who'd been eyeing a wealthy looking lady on her way home. His _real_ job is taking down the _actual_ monsters that prowl in the night, but admittedly humans can be just as bad sometimes, if not worse.

Besides, a pulled muscle in his leg was nothing compared to making sure that someone could make it home safely.

"There was some activity today, but more of the usual stuff." Chasing down leads, not getting anywhere.

The savory aroma of freshly cooked meat catches his attention and he grins as Kihyun emerges from the kitchen to set a full plate of food in front of him. Though the place is supposed to be closed at this hour, Kihyun always keeps both the lights and the stove on when he knows Jooheon is going to be passing by. 

He digs in while Kihyun leans against the bar separating them. 

"Any news on, you know..." Kihyun takes a cautious glance around the restaurant even though it's empty tonight. The city streets always get pretty quiet after it's time for the unofficial curfew that was passed years ago, but, while it’s rare, it’s not entirely unheard of for some of the regulars around here who live close by to show up if they have a sudden craving. 

Jooheon knows what Kihyun means regardless of him saying it out loud though. For as long as the man's known that he was a monster hunter, Kihyun had always been keenly interested in any information Jooheon might possess or sightings he may have had. 

He can't be sure since Kihyun has always been closed off about his family and his past (not that he blames him in the slightest), but Jooheon figures it's for similar reasons to his own so he's never pried very hard. 

There's hardly anyone these days who doesn't have some sort of supernatural skeletons in their closet. 

"Just rumors, recently. Thought that those punks the other night might've been part of a pack of wolves but they were just a regular bunch of scummy thieves, not mangy mutts–" Jooheon lets out a short yelp as something almost knocks him off his chair mid-sentence. 

Kihyun's look of apprehension fades into exasperation as he scolds MinMin, who'd snuck out of the kitchen and tried to jump up next to Jooheon. 

He figures the dog wants some of his food, but MinMin just nips at his hand when he offers some on his fork. 

"Geez, what's gotten into him, hyung?" Jooheon grumbles as the usually friendly dog gives him an earful of barks before Kihyun manages to wrangle MinMin back behind the counter.

"Must've forgot his manners," Kihyun says with a huff as he bends down to be on eye level with MinMin. "You know he wasn't talking about you, so don't get your tail in a twist over it."

He receives a lick to the face for his trouble and he sends the dog a reproachful look. 

Jooheon can't help but laugh as Kihyun stands up to go wash the dog's affection off. MinMin almost seems to be laughing as well until his ears suddenly go alert. 

Kihyun returns a moment later, patting his face dry. A single glance at MinMin makes him frown as the dog begins to growl, face trained on the door. A fairly loud sound outside comes from the direction of the door, easily heard in the sudden hush that falls over them.

It’s unusual, because the restaurant is technically closed at this hour, and none of the regulars would come after it had already gotten as dark as it was outside. Jooheon, as Kihyun's favorite patron, was obviously an exception due to his job and the odd hours he could end up working. 

Exchanging a glance with Kihyun, Jooheon pushes his half eaten dinner further onto the counter and stands up. 

"I'll let them know you're closed for the night."

As he makes his way to the door to see who– _or what_ –had caught MinMin's attention, someone is already on their way in. Their face is partially obscured by the hat pulled low over it, but from the height and build it seems to be a man, possibly mid forties, dressed in dark clothes and a battered coat. Whoever he is, he’s so frantic in his movements that they clip shoulders. 

Something clatters to the ground in the process, but before Jooheon can even register what it is the man has already bent down and snatched it back to bundle into his coat. 

Expecting the man to have the common courtesy to apologize, as he was clearly at fault, Jooheon is offended when the guy just scowls in his direction and immediately turns on his heel to leave. 

A little rude, in Jooheon's opinion, but hey–it's not like he's never been in a rush to get somewhere before. He gets it. But still, _rude_.

He's about to go back to the bar without even having needed to say anything when something dark on the floor catches his eye. Something that wasn't there when he came in earlier. 

He crouches down to inspect it and suddenly jumps to his feet, eyes narrowed and shoulders tense.

"Jooheon?" Kihyun calls out, worry evident in his voice. "What's the matter?" 

"Just stay inside, hyung," Jooheon says, racing out the door into the night after the man. 

Kihyun exchanges a glance with MinMin, who lets out a whine in reply as they dash over to check out what had Jooheon running off on his own. 

There, on the floor, is a splatter of fresh blood; both red and black. 

Kihyun's face pales. It's the blood of a vampire. 

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think and about any side ships you might want to see since I haven't completely decided yet! 
> 
> One possibility was Minhyuk/Kihyun but if anyone has a better idea just let me know!
> 
> Thanks for reading and have a great day! :)


End file.
